BELIZE YUCATEC MAYA

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THE YUCATEC MAYA(MOST CAME FROM THE YUCATAN PENINSULA WHAT IS NOW THE CAMPECHE,YUCATAN AND QUINTANA ROO STATES , ESCAPING FROM THE GUERRA SOCIAL MAYA BETTER KNOWN AS CASTE WAR IN 1840'S). THERE HAVE BEEN EVIDENCE THAT THERE WERE STILL YUCATEC MAYA LIVING IN THE EXTREME NORTHWESTERN PART OF BELIZE IN THE RIO BRAVO AREA BEFORE THE MASSIVE MIGRATION OF MAYA  FROM MEXICO. THE BRITISH REPORTED SEVERAL ATTACKS IN 1788 AND 1801 FROM THE MAYA. A YUCATEC MAYA GROUP NAME THE ICAICHE MAYA WHICH TERRITORY INCLUDED NORTHWESTERN BELIZE AND SOUTHERN MEXICO RESISTED TO THE BRITISH EXPANSION OF LOGWOOD CUTTING. THE ICAICHE MAYA WITH THE HELP OF MAYA WHO MIGRATED TO THE SAN PEDRO YALBAC AREA DEFEATED THE BRITISH TROOPS IN DECEMBER 21,1866 WHICH IS KNOWN AS THE BATTLE OF SAN PEDRO YALBAC. OTHERS ARE DESCENDANTS OF THE YUCATEC MAYA GROUP KNOWN AS THE CRUZOOB MAYA REBELS WHO MIGRATED TO BELIZE FROM CHAN SANTA CRUZ DURING AND AFTER THE WAR . AFTER THE MAYA SOCIAL WAR (CASTE WAR) WHICH ENDED AROUND THE 1930'S MANY MAYA IN NORTHERN BELIZE BECAME CANE FARMERS,TEACHERS,POLICE MEN ,SOLDIERS ,MILPEROS ETC 

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THE NORTHERN MAYA OF BELIZE BELONG TO THE YUCATEC MAYA GROUP WHICH ARE FOUND IN COROZAL, ORANGE WALK AND CAYO. THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE IS KNOWN SIMPLY AS MAYA OR MÀAYA T’ÀAN BUT IT IS ALSO KNOWN AS MAYA YUCATECO. TODAY MOSTLY ELDERS ARE THE MAYA SPEAKERS WHILE MANY OF THE YOUNGER GENERATION HAVE EXCHANGED THEIR NATIVE MAYA LANGUAGE FOR SPANISH AND ENGLISH, PUTTING THE MAYA LANGUAGE ENDANGERED WITH JUST A LITTLE OVER 2000 SPEAKERS IN BELIZE.

THE YUCATEC MAYA IN BELIZE IDENTIFY IN DIFFERENT WAYS DEPENDING ON THE INDIVIDUAL, SUCH AS MAYA, MASEWAL, MAYA MASEWAL, MAYA MESTIZO OR MAYERO.

THE NORTHERN MAYA PRACTICE SEVERAL MAYA TRADITIONS LIKE CHA CHAAC, HANAL-PIXAN, BIIX, JÉETS´MÉEK’ AND OTHERS.

DURING THE GUERRA SOCIAL MAYA (1847-1930’S), MORE COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE CASTE WAR, THE YUCATEC MAYA WERE DIVIDED INTO SEVERAL REBEL GROUPS WHICH WERE FIGHTING AGAINST THE EUROPEANS. THESE YUCATEC MAYA GROUPS WERE KNOWN AS THE CRUZOB MAYA AND ICAICHE MAYA, WHICH THEIR DESCENDANTS ARE STILL FOUND IN BELIZE.

BY ANDY CHUC.

FACEBOOK BELIZE YUCATEC MAYA : HTTPS://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/BELIZEYUCATECMAYA/

SIMPLY BELIZE: THE YUCATEC MAYA HTTP://WWW.SIMPLYBELIZE.ORG/EPISODE01.HTML

MAYA OF NORTHERN BELIZE : HTTP://WWW.NORTHERNBELIZE.COM/CULT_MAYAN.HTML